


bridges

by Super_Trouper



Series: Wayhaven Week 2020 [5]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst, Book 2 Spoilers, Confessions, F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Moving On, ish, not love confessions but confessions nonetheless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Trouper/pseuds/Super_Trouper
Summary: Getting closure is an important step in moving forward and Lara has one last confession she needs to make.Written for Day 5 of Wayhaven Week on Tumblr. Prompt: Guilt/Forgiveness.
Relationships: Female Detective & Falk, Female Detective/Falk, hints of Female Detective/Mason
Series: Wayhaven Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912510
Kudos: 8





	bridges

**Author's Note:**

> Falk and Sanja were such great characters, I adore them. But Sanja dies in all of my canon routes so I figure why not lean into that for even more angst :)))

Before they leave the maa-alused, Lara needs to talk to Falk one more time. She didn’t have the strength to say her piece earlier, too shaken by what he’d told her about the leader of the rogue supernaturals, but now she simply can’t leave before she properly apologises for Sanja’s death.

The hard part is convincing Unit Bravo to let her seek him out on her own; and while she understands their concern, is touched by it, truly, she knows this is a conversation she needs to have with Falk alone. 

Adam frowns at her as she says this, but he does eventually agree, even if he does warn her that if she isn’t back within the hour, they’ll come looking for her. Lara’s response is to beam at him.

“Thank you,” she says genuinely before throwing the team one last smile and setting off to find Falk. She thinks she catches Mason throw her an odd look as she does, but she can’t be sure it isn’t just her imagination.

Meanwhile, in comparison to convincing Unit Bravo to do anything, locating Falk is an easy task. And while Lara might not have supernatural senses when it comes to detecting others’ thoughts and feelings, being the people person she is she’s learnt to pick up on some non-verbal cues -- Falk, if she’s reading him right, seems understandably surprised to see her again, and so soon at that, but he also seems pleased.

“Detective,” he inclines his head in greeting. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, no, no, nothing of the sort. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Her smile doesn’t falter even as she takes in the curious glances the two seem to attract, but her hands go to fidget with the hem of her cardigan. “Can we talk? In private? I promise I won’t take up too much of your time.”

Falk holds her gaze for a moment longer before an almost playful smile grows on his lips. “On the contrary, detective, feel free to take up as much of my time as you desire.”

Lara isn’t sure what to make of the comment, especially since the implications it carries seem to lend themselves to a certain vibe she’s been getting from him on more than one occasion, but fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be expecting a response. He gestures for her to follow him as he leads them away from the main cave to a much more secluded spot.

“It’s really beautiful,” she can’t help but note as she takes in the greenery spreading out miles and miles ahead in front of them.

Falk lets out a soft sound of agreement. “That it is.”

She glances down, wiping her palms on the soft material of her skirt. The words she’s come here to say suddenly get stuck in her throat and even as she clears it, she doesn’t seem to be able to get them out. But she has to. 

“I’m sorry about Sanja,” she says finally, voice quiet. The wind whistles around them, blowing strands of ginger hair around her face, but she barely even notices. “I was- It’s my fault she… didn’t make it and I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am. I meant to tell you earlier, but-”

She falls quiet as she sees him reach out a hand towards her face, glancing down at her with an unreadable expression. She doesn’t move away even as a small part of her is afraid he might inflict the disease on her once again, but he merely tucks a stray hair behind her ear.

“I think I understand now,” he says finally, voice just as quiet as hers. Lara’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and he clarifies, “What you meant back at the carnival. When you said everybody feels guilt over something, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be punished for it.”

“Oh.”

“I may not be able to read you, detective, but I don’t need to to know you carry a lot of guilt. It’s not just Sanja, is it?”

Lara looks away under the weight of the memories his question brings forward. 

“No,” she admits. “A few months ago… there was a killer. He murdered two people, a young woman and a boy, and the reason he was in Wayhaven at all was because of me.”

She’s surprised and embarrassed to feel herself tear up, but Falk offers no judgement, instead continuing to look at her calmly. She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “In any case, I just wanted to apologise. It’s my choice that got Sanja killed and I thought you needed to know.”

“I disagree,” Falk says despite the obvious pain in his eyes when Sanja is mentioned. “It is not you to blame for her passing, detective. I’m certain you did everything in your power to rescue her from these Trappers.”

Lara isn’t sure if she sees it quite this way but she’s grateful for his forgiveness nonetheless. And she can’t help it, she’s always been a very tactile person -- she pulls him into a hug. It’s a little awkward, as is probably to be expected with how surprised he seems to be and how tiny she is compared to him, but it offers her some of the comfort she seeks, as hugs usually tend to do.

“You keep surprising me, detective,” Falk says once she pulls back and Lara manages a smile.

“Please, just Lara is fine.”

“Very well… Lara.” His accent seems especially thick as it wraps around her name, saying it in such a way that he almost seems to savour it. Once again, Lara isn’t sure how to react; her romantic interests, though she’s still very reluctant to call whatever Falk might feel for her as such, don’t seem to be working out too well as of late, with Mason’s disinterest in anything beyond sex and Bobby’s general attitude.

She  _ is _ happy, however, that Falk is still so open to building a more friendly relationship with the Agency and with her. The entire time everything was going on, she held onto the hope that they could all come to a peaceful resolution and she’s beyond happy her optimism wasn’t misplaced.

“Well.” She takes another deep breath, shaking off her more morbid thoughts. Her smile softens as she once again looks up to meet Falk’s eyes. “I suppose I should be heading back now, but maybe I could stop by again sometime?”

“I would like that very much.”


End file.
